Josh Gad, Kevin James and Adam Sandler Target Pixels

Josh Gad (Frozen, “The Book of Mormon”) and Kevin James (Grown Ups, “The King of Queens”) are in talks to play leading roles in Sony Pictures’ upcoming big screen adaptation of Patrick Jean’s videogame-inspired short film Pixels, says a story today at The Hollywood Reporter. TheWrap, meanwhile, reports that Adam Sandler (who was already attached as a producer) will also star. Chris Columbus (first two “Harry Potter” films, Home Alone) is directing.

The short film, which you can check out in the player below, became a viral hit with its 1980s video game characters attacking New York City. It was previously said that the plan was to make a Ghostbusters-style action comedy in which characters come out of a video game to wreak havoc in the real world.

Sandler’s production company Happy Madison is behind the big screen adaptation with Tim Herlihy and Tim Dowling providing the screenplay.